Title: Cookie Mining - Economics
Level: Intermediate, Middle School
Time: 1 Day
KERA Goals: 2.1, 2.3, 2.33
Objective: Students will practice simulated real life problem solving as they review consumer math skills.
Materials:
1. 3 types of chocolate chip cookies - Mothers, or another low-priced store brand (fewer chips, Chips Ahoy (more chips), and Chips Deluxe (most chips)
2. Flat toothpicks
3. Round toothpicks
4. Paper clips
5. Cookie Mining worksheet
6. Cookie Mining Grid worksheet
7. Cookie Mining Money

Background Information:
1. Explain the object of cookie mining; to make a profit. Each student buys property (a cookie), equipment (toothpicks or paper clips), pays for the mining operation and reclamation. In return, the students receive money for the ore mined (chocolate chips).

Activity:

Cookie Mining

Directions:
1. Each player starts with $19 worth of Cookie Mining Money, a Cookie Mining worksheet, and a sheet of the grid paper.

2. Each student must buy his/her own "mining property" or cookie. Write the cookie prices on he board:
Store brand chocolate chip - $3.00
Chips Ahoy - $5.00
Chips Deluxe - $7.00

3. After the cookies are bought, have the students give their "mine" a name, and record it, along with the price of their cookie on the sheet.

4. Have them place their cookie on the grid paper and trace the outline of the cookie. They should then count each square that falls inside the circle, counting partial squares as a full square, and record that number on the sheet.

5. Students must now buy mining equipment. They can purchase more than one piece or type f equipment. If a mining tool breaks, it is no longer usable, and a new tool must be purchased. Write the prices on the board:
Flat toothpick - $2.00 each
Round toothpick - $4.00 each
Paper clip - $6.00 each

Have them record the price of mining equipment on their sheets.

6. Now they can mine the chips out of the cookies. No student can use his fingers to hold a cookie. The only things that can touch the cookie are the mining tools and the paper the cookie is sitting on. The maximum mining time is 5 minutes, at a cost of $1.00 per minute. Students can finish mining before the 5 minutes are up, and record the time spent mining on the sheet.

7. Students receive $2.00 for each chocolate chip mined. Broken chips can be combined to form one whole chip.

8. After the cookie has been mined, students should use the tools to "reclaim" the property, placing it back into the circled area. No fingers or hands allowed. Draw another circle around the reclaimed cookies, and assess students $1.00 for each square over the original count.

9. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins, and everyone gets to eat the remainder of their cookie!

Discussion Points:

Did it matter which cookie you bought? Which cookies were harder or easier to mine, and why? Which cookies were more expensive?

What about the mining equipment? Which tools, or combination of tools were most effective?

Did certain tools break?

When you tried to reclaim your cookie, what happened? Was it difficult to return this cookie back to the same exact size that it was before mining the chips?

Mining Economics: Cookie Mining Worksheet

1. Name of cookie mine ________________________________

2. Price of cookie ______________________
(Mothers $3.00, Chips Ahoy $5.00, Chips Deluxe $7.00)

3. Size of cookie squares covered

4. Equipment:
Flat toothpick _______x $2.00 = _______
Round toothpick _______x $4.00 = _______
Paper clip _______ x $6.00 = _______

Total Equipment Cost =_______

5. Mining: _______ minutes x $1.00
Cost of removing chips _______

6. Total Cost of Mining = _______

7. Chip removal:
Number of chips _______ x $2.00 = _______

How much did I make?

Value of chips..................... _______
Total cost of mining............... _______
Profit/Loss........................ _______

8. Reclamation: _______ squares x $1.00 = _______

Return To Primary Lesson Plans